Powder River Basin on pace to produce less than 200 million tons of coal

GILLETTE — Under the right circumstances, carbon under pressure produces diamonds. But the intense pressure from multiple fronts now squeezing Powder River Basin coal is crushing the industry.

Already struggling with weakening demand for U.S. coal, the nation’s largest coal-producing region also has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic with historically bad results.

Through the first eight months of 2020, PRB production is nearly 25% below this time last year and hundreds of high-paying jobs have been lost.

While the last four months of the year may pick up some, it won’t be enough to salvag...